infoTECH Feature

Kayako Offers Free Software to Non-Profits

Help desk software, CRM and live chat software vendor Kayako has announced the immediate availability of "free, perpetual and unlimited" licenses for their entire line-up of help desk products for just such organizations.

"As a business, we are aware of our social responsibilities. We are passionate about helping those in need, especially during markedly tough times for charitable and non-profit organizations," says Jamie Edwards, operations manager at Kayako. "We would hate to think that price is a barrier to entry for these organizations."

He added that Kayako "feels strongly about the undervalued contribution open-source developers are making to the progression of technology and software, which is why we are offering to give something back."

John Smart, IT director of the American Motorcyclist Association, said that the AMA is currently facing many of the same struggles which private industry IT departments are seeing today, because "we struggle everyday to control our support costs." He notes that Kayako are "putting a world-class support product in the hands of those who would otherwise consider this option as unthinkable within their current budget."

The free license on offer is perpetual and comes with twelve months of technical support. Eligible organizations are also entitled to receive any number of free licenses of Kayako's supplementary add-on products, such as KayakoMobile, a help desk management client for mobile devices.

Kayako products are available as both host-it-yourself and fully managed SaaS.

"Establishing a presence in new social spaces is an increasing challenge for businesses," Kayako officials said at the time, explaining that Kayako "is running a viral Support Desk Giveaway campaign to build connections and presence with potential and existing customers in social networks, including Twitter and Facebook."

As well as giving away unlimited licenses to their flagship helpdesk SupportSuite, Kayako offered a number of popular pieces of technology as prizes, including a Macbook Air, iPod Touch, Blackberry Smartphone, Samsung HD TV and a Sony HD Camcorder.

The event ended 17th July with a grand finale prize consisting of a SupportSuite license, an Apple (News - Alert) Macbook Air and a $1000.00 donation to the winner's nominated charity.